Thomas Martin Coughlin (June 6, 1949 – April 1, 2016) was an American businessman who served as vice chairman of

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

and confidant of founder

Sam Walton Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American business magnate best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in 1962 and 1983 respectively. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's l ...

. Coughlin was a native of

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He attended California State University, and earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in political science.

Early life

Coughlin grew up in Cleveland and was the son of a police detective. He attended St. Edward High School in

Lakewood, Ohio Lakewood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Established in 1889, it is one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs and part of the Greater Cleveland, Greater Clevelan ...

, a western suburb of Cleveland, and graduated in 1967. He graduated from California State University in 1972 and earned a

in political science. While attending Cal State, he played football. Coughlin began his career with R. H. Macy's West Coast division as a store detective. After several years in various

loss prevention Retail loss prevention (also known as Retail asset protection) is a set of practices employed by retail companies to preserve profit. Profit preservation is any business activity specifically designed to reduce preventable losses. A preventable ...

positions wit
Cook United in Cleveland
Coughlin interviewed at Wal-Mart.

Career with Walmart

Coughlin began his career with the retailer in 1978 in the company's security division and eventually became vice president of loss prevention. He later became vice president of human resources. From January 1998 to January 1999, he was executive vice president and chief operating officer of the flagship Wal-Mart Stores Division.SEC Filin

sec.gov, April 15, 2004. The next year, he headed the Wal-Mart Stores Division. In January 2001, Coughlin was elected to the board of directors for ChoicePoint, a publicly traded data aggregation firm. That same year, he was elected to the Walmart board of directors. In August 2002, he was also given the title of CEO for Sam's Club USA. The following April, he became executive vice president and vice chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. On December 6, 2004, Walmart announced that Coughlin would retire effective January 24, 2005. When Coughlin's retirement was announced, Walmart praised Coughlin for his longtime success at the corporation. Walmart CEO Lee Scott said in a company-issued press release, "Tom Coughlin has achieved one of the most successful business careers that anyone could imagine". Walmart Chairman Rob Walton, added that "I particularly respect the special relationship that he has built with our associates in the field. This says a lot about how well Tom Coughlin represents the Walmart culture".

Legal troubles

In March 2005, Walmart announced that Coughlin had resigned from the board of directors as a result of an internal investigation. The investigation alleged that the use of corporate-owned gift cards and personal reimbursements estimated to be in the range of $100,000 to $500,000. Beginning in July 2005, he was the subject of a

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

investigation, as well as a lawsuit by Walmart, and was reviewed by a federal

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

over misuse of company

gift card A gift card also known as gift certificate in North America, or gift voucher or gift token in the UK is a prepaid stored-value money card, usually issued by a retailer or bank, to be used as an alternative to cash for purchases within a parti ...

s. When the charges first surfaced in April 2005, Coughlin claimed the money he embezzled was being used to pay bribes to

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

officials not to organize at Walmart locations and to identify pro-union Walmart workers. He pleaded guilty to five counts of wire

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

and one count of filing a false tax return related to embezzlement and theft from Walmart while serving as a member of its board. U.S. Attorney Robert Balfe told reporters the investigation had found no evidence backing Coughlin's earlier claims that the money he took was reimbursement for anti-union activities. Coughlin was sentenced on August 11, 2006 at

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

, to 33 months in home detention after pleading guilty to stealing money, merchandise and gift cards from the retailer. He avoided any prison detention, but was ordered to serve five years probation, and pay a $50,000 fine and about $411,000 in restitution to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

. He also was sentenced to 27 months of home detention. A physician stated in court that Coughlin was in poor health, suffering from

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

, cardiac disease, sleep apnea, arterial blockage, and other ailments.

Other lawsuits

Certain former Walmart employees filed lawsuits against Coughlin for their purportedly inadvertent roles in his embezzlement of Walmart funds. Former Administrative Manager Patsy Stephens deposited Walmart money into her personal bank account and then wrote checks for her immediate supervisor (Robert Hey), for Coughlin, and for cash. She claimed she thought these practices were for the benefit of the company. She was convicted on eight counts of wire fraud by a federal jury in November 2007.Lisa Brence
Fmr. Wal-Mart Employee Convicted of Fraud
nwahomepage.com, November 30, 2007.

Personal life

Coughlin was close friends and hunting companion to Walmart's founder, Sam Walton. Coughlin died on April 1, 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coughlin, Tom 1949 births 2016 deaths American people convicted of tax crimes American fraudsters Directors of Walmart California State University, East Bay alumni Businesspeople from Cleveland St. Edward High School (Lakewood, Ohio) alumni American business executives American businesspeople convicted of crimes 20th-century American businesspeople